Pacifist to Glider Pilot

Engaging account of a founder member of the Glider Pilot Regiment who participated in the airborne assaults at Sicily and Arnhem in WW2

In this interesting and unusual autobiographical account Alec Waldron tells how he rebelled against his strict religious upbringing and the uncompromising pacifism of his parents to become a military glider pilot in World War II.

Born in Portsmouth on the South Coast of England, Alec was raised as a member of the exclusive Plymouth Brethren, a separatist religious sect who shunned contact with the rest of society and were committed pacifists.

As the war clouds gathered over Europe in the 1930s, Alec found himself increasingly at odds with his parents beliefs and at the outbreak of war in 1939 he made the difficult decision to defy them and the elders of the sect and volunteered for military service...

A member of the first entry of the Glider Pilot Regiment, Alec went on to participate in the airborne assaults at Sicily in July 1943 and Arnhem in September 1944, both disastrous military failures from the Allied point of view, which Alec was fortunate enough to survive. Many of his comrades were not so lucky.

Alec's colourful account of his unusual upbringing and remarkable wartime experiences makes for fascinating reading that will be of particular interest to military historians and glider enthusiasts.

The book is illustrated with a number of excellent photographs from the author's personal collection.

details

softback | 140 x 205 mm | 300 pages | b/w photos

genre

biography | military history | true war and combat stories | air forces and warfare